Respondents believe most of the growth will be in the private sector, with significant jumps in construction projects for healthcare and education. Thirty-six percent of respondents believe that there was money to be made in 2013, while 39 percent of firms expect the market to remain at the same level as 2012. At the same time, 18 percent of contractors expect fewer publicly funded projects in 2013 due, in part, to funding restrictions.

Prefabricated building is staged to expand its share in the industry in 2013. Production efficiencies combined with the increasingly widespread use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) software has allowed designers to easily prefabricate components and structures into building plans.

According to the AGC report, 38 percent of respondents are already using BIM services for their projects, while 43 percent expect to start using BIM within the next year. Interestingly, firms are looking to support onsite hiring plans with new IT positions. Sixty percent of those surveyed intend to invest in IT departments, while 73 percent of those firms expect to spend at least $10,000 in technology over the next 12 months.

“With luck and a lot of work, the hard-hit construction industry should be larger, healthier, more technologically savvy and more profitable by the end of 2013 than it is today,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the CEO of the AGCA.